Centipede is the low-maintenance lawn grass: slow growing, light feeding, and naturally low, so you mow less and fertilize barely at all. It forms a dense, apple-green turf that behaves itself along walkways and flowerbeds. Each piece covers roughly two and a half square feet.

It does best in full sun and sandy, acidic soil, tolerating a little light shade. Water new sod daily until rooted, then adjust by soil type: sandy ground more often, clay less. Skip the heavy fertilizer schedule; a soil test and a phosphorus-free feed like 15-0-15 is all it asks.